Date: Saturday 7th March
Time: 4pm
Ticket Price: €10/€8
Venue: St. Columba’s Church
Join novelists Hilary Fannin and Rachael English in conversation with Nessa O’Mahony about their new novels.
Hilary Fannin’s The Weight of Love deals with Robin and Ruth who meet in the staff room of an East London school. Robin, desperate for a real connection, instantly falls in love. Powerless, Robin watches on as the girl he loves and his best friend begin a passionate and turbulent affair. Hilary worked as an actor throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Her first play was staged at London’s Bush Theatre in the mid-1990s, and her writing since then includes numerous stage and radio plays. She was joint writer-in-association at the Abbey Theatre for its centenary year, 2004. Her memoir Hopscotch was published by Doubleday in 2015. Hilary began writing for The Irish Times in 2004. Currently writing a weekly column for the paper, she was named Columnist of the Year at the 2019 NewsBrands Ireland Journalism Awards. The Weight of Love, published by Penguin Random House, is her first novel.
Rachael English’s The Paper Bracelet tells the story of Katie who worked as a nurse in a west of Ireland mother and baby home. For almost fifty years, she has kept a box containing the identity bands of the babies who were born there. Following the death of her husband, she decides to return the paper bracelets to their original owners, many of whom are still trying to find their birth mothers. The Paper Bracelet is Rachael’s fifth novel. Her first, Going Back, was shortlisted for the most promising newcomer award at the Irish Book Awards while The American Girl was a number one bestseller in Ireland. She also presents Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1.